Evey woke up feeling invigorated. Finally, a full night of restful sleep. She stretched languorously.

Tony was sitting against the opposite wall. A candle was floating at his side, and he had a book in his hands, but he was looking at the window longingly, though the heavy, sun-blocking curtains were still closed. "Morning," Evey said softly. She didn't know if Macnair was awake yet.

Tony turned to face her and smiled brightly. He stood up and joined her on the bed after glancing briefly toward the open door – presumably to make certain that Mrs Weasley wasn't there.

What had Evey been thinking the previous evening? I promise we'll be chaste. What a stupid thing to say. She must have been too upset, too exhausted to think rationally.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?"

She wished he would stop calling her that. She wasn't a child, for Merlin's sake. "Great, improbably enough," she replied truthfully. She felt full of energy, and hungry as a bear. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she added.

She was more than a little embarrassed, knowing exactly what he'd witnessed: how useless she'd been, how weak. Embarrassment was probably the last thing she should feel, but she couldn't help it. It just added to the crushing, unwarranted guilt she couldn't quite dispel. She was gifted in the use of wandless magic; she should have done something, anything, to save her family. Instead she had just stood there, paralysed with fear, and had watched helplessly as Greyback murdered one of the people she loved most in the world. Not a minute went by that she didn't replay the scene in her head. She should have done something, damn her.

Tony's grin faded. "I'm sorry you had to go through it in the first place."

She made a dismissive gesture; she didn't want to expand on the matter. "About the biting part, though…" she said. "Macnair is right. It shouldn't be possible."

It had been more than a simple bite; Greyback had tried to eat her! It seemed impossible, even though she'd seen it when Tony had used Legilimency on her. He'd replayed the entire dreadful night, in painful details – though some pieces were still missing. How had Evey healed from her wounds? How was she even alive? There had been so much blood!

Tony's smile was back. "You can call him Walden, you know. Anyone who's withstood his snores earns that right."

"Most likely, the snores just lulled me into sleep. Both my dad and my brother snored like chainsaws," she told him with a shrug. "I guess I'm used to the sound."

"Lucky you," he said with a grimace. "Anyway, about the…biting," he went on more seriously. "Er…well, I've got nothing, actually. I don't know shit about werewolves, except the basic facts. In any case, this is uncharted territory. Nobody would know anything about this particular situation." He hesitated. "Have you noticed any other…symptoms, besides your improved eyesight and perfectly smooth skin?"

Evey thought about it for a minute. "I think my metabolism is faster than it used to be. I've lost some weight since the attack, but I've been eating normally. More than usual, actually. I thought I might simply be eating my grief, but with what we know now..." She sighed. "It's hard to say what's due to emotional response and shock, and what might come from what Greyback did to me."

"Do you know where he bit you, exactly?" Macnair asked.

She turned toward him, startled. She hadn't realised that he was awake. He was sitting against the head of his bed, still wearing the t-shirt he'd put on the day before. The image on it was too faded for Evey to make out what it was. "First in the shoulder. Right shoulder, I think." Tony nodded in confirmation. He'd witnessed it first-hand, after all. "Then in several other places." Her stomach rebelled at the thought, and Evey had to hold back a violent spell of nausea. She wished that Tony could erase the memories, now that she knew what had happened.

"Can I see your shoulder?" Macnair asked.

"My shoulder?" Evey repeated with a frown. "Um…sure. Why not." She stood up, took the three steps that separated them, and sat down on his bed. He retrieved his wand from under his pillow and magically opened the curtains, to give them more light. Evey reflexively glanced at Tony as sunlight poured into the bedroom, but the vampire didn't burst into flames. He gave her a toothy grin, as if he'd read her mind. Which, in his case, was not a figure of speech.

Evey was wearing a simple tank top with shorts – the ancient house wasn't well insulated, and it was an uncommonly warm summer in England. Macnair removed the strap and moved his right hand across her shoulder. "Do you feel anything? Does it tingle, or something?" It did tingle a bit, but Evey didn't think it had anything to do with an invisible bite mark, so she shook her head. "There's no trace at all, nothing." He sounded puzzled. "Where else did you have a scar, before…all that?" he asked after a moment.

"On my knee." She moved to present him with her left knee and pointed at a specific spot. "Here. It looked like a small hook." She traced an imaginary hook where the scar had been – she couldn't even remember where it had come from. The skin was entirely smooth now, of course. Macnair retraced it exactly as she had, and Evey shivered. He could at least ask, before doing that, she thought irritably.

"If it's true…" he began to say.

She rolled her eyes. "Look, if you're going to keep doubting me at every turn–"

"I believe you, alright?" he said. "Well, I believe in Tony's abilities, anyway. But you have to understand, lass, you might as well be telling me that the earth is square or that the sky is pink. I need to think it through." He was silent for a moment. "How bad was your eyesight?"

"I was short-sighed and astigmatic. Everything was a bit blurry when I wasn't wearing my lenses. I couldn't have watched the television from the bed."

He appeared to consider that. "I'm not sure how it works for them. Werewolves, I mean. I don't know if those with impaired sight gain perfect vision when they're turned. A werewolf's senses are enhanced, of course, but only during the full moon. You might want to ask that Lupin bloke. Maybe he'll know more."

"Professor Lupin? Why, is he here?"

"He doesn't live here, I think, but he was there when we arrived," Tony answered. He was leaning against the wall, between the two beds, his long arms crossed over his chest. "But if Evey asks, they'll know something's up."

Macnair – Walden, she amended – gave his brother a pointed look. "She can't keep it to herself forever. Do you have any idea how important this is?"

"You want to turn her into a circus freak, Wal? Because that's what's going to happen, if anyone finds out. I think she could do without that right now."

Evey cleared her throat to get their attention. "Don't fight over me," she said with a smirk. She looked at Walden. "I'm certainly not telling anyone else at present. You can look into it, if you want, but I don't want anyone else involved."

He held her gaze steadily. "As you wish. I'm not sure what I can do, though."

"You can help me puzzle it out. I'm not sure what good it will do, but I'd like to know the extent of the damage."

"Damage?" Walden repeated. "It doesn't sound like damage to me. Extra perks, more like. Don't you realise how lucky you are to even be alive?"

She grimaced. "Oh yes, lucky me. I lost my entire family, but my eyesight is perfect. That's just bloody fantastic."

"That's not what I meant," he mumbled.

Evey sighed heavily. "I know. Let's just take it one step at a time, see if anything weird happens." She paused, struck by a sudden thought. "You don't think I'll actually turn into a werewolf, do you?"

"We won't know until next month. The full moon is on the tenth of August. But I doubt it will be the case," he added quickly when he glimpsed the horrified expression on her face. "Greyback wasn't transformed, was he? The last full moon occurred a few days before he attacked you." Evey nodded. "Then I think we can rule that out. We'll do as you say, and just record any odd thing. If there are any. For all we know, this is temporary."

"I'm temporarily alive?" Evey asked with a scowl.

"No, I mean that maybe the…effects will wear out. I don't know. We'll see. Anyway. I hope you were not planning on using our bathroom, on top of everything else," Walden said as he stood up and walked toward the other room.